In 1998 members of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration agreed
to undertake the ambitious project of painting Japan’s rarest flora from
living specimens. Seventy-five artists published 182 paintings in the 2004 Endangered
Plants of Japan: A Florilegium. Seventy-two of these paintings, each by a different
artist, will travel to the United States for an exhibit at the National Arboretum
and, later, at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It is the first exhibition of the
paintings in North America.

The Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration was founded
in 1991 to bring together lovers of botanical art, including both amateur and
professional artists. Wanting to use their talents to promote the conservation
of Japan’s native flora, Association members hoped that painting portraits
of some of Japan’s rarest plants would focus public attention on the increased
risk facing many of the country’s endemic flora through, in most cases,
habitat loss and over collecting. The 182 species they present in the Florilegium
represent just 10% of the total endangered plants in Japan.

The arboretum will show the paintings in two parts: The first
set of 36 will hang from March 1 – April 30; the second group from
May 1 – June 30. The exhibit then travels to the Chicago
Botanic Garden where it will be on display in its entirety from August
19 – October 2, 2005.

Copies of Endangered Plants of Japan: A Florilegium and
reproductions of 16 of the paintings will be available through the Arbor
House Gift Shop at the National Arboretum.

Click on any image below for a
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Click here
for a new window with a PDF file (2.5MB) containing all 17 plates shown
below.